Pile shoe



1, 1 3 w. c. SCHMITT PILE SHOE Filed July 25, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR William C. Schmi/f BY TI ATTORN Y3 Dec. 21, W3?

w. c. scHMlTT FILE SHOE Filed July 25, 19156 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENT OR W/'//iam C. Schmiff BY 0AA ATTCR EYS,

Patented Dec. 21, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,102,921 PILE sHoE William 0. Schmitt, Portland mg. Application July .25', 1936, Serial No. 92,621

6 Claims.

My invention relates to shoes adapted. to be placed over the bottom ends of wooden piles in order to protect such bottom ends from splitting or brooming when the pile is driven into hard or rocky ground.

A common method of fitting a shoe to a pile is to have the shoe made in the form of a hollow four-sided, inverted pyramid. to sharpen the bottom end of the pile, and to attach the shoe to the sharpened pile end and hold the shoe in place by means of spikes driven into the pile thru holes provided in the upper end of the shoe.

It is necessary for such pile shoes to be strong enough to withstand the shock when the bottom of the pile is driven thru difiicult ground; rocks, etc. On the other hand, from the standpoint of expense, and also from the standpoint of convenience in handling, it is desirable that the shoe should not be'any heavier than necessary. An important object of my invention is to provide a shoe which will be reinforced at the parts which are subjected to the greatest shock and strain, whereby the rest of'the shoe may consist of relatively thin metal, thus keeping down both cost and weight of the shoe. I

A further object is to provide a pile shoe made of separate parts which are identical and preformed, so that the setting up of the shoe and the fastening of the component parts together requires a very simple operation.

A still further object i's to provide a strong, practical pile shoe the component parts of which are so simple and inexpensively made that the which are welded together,

cost of manufacturing the shoe will be reduced to a minimum.

These and incidental objects I attain by making my pile shoe of separate, pre-formed plates. preferably four in number, in the manner illustrated by the accompanying c'lrsltwings; in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my completed shoe made up of four separate, pre-formed plates hen the shoe is set up, in a manner to be described;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section takeri thru the center of the shoe illustrated in Fig. 1 and on the line 2 2 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the shoeshown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is'a side elevation similar to Fig. 1 but showing the shoe in Fig. 1 turned slightly to the ri h r Fig. 5 is a view in perspective of one of the four identical, pre-formed metal plates comprising the shoe; and I Fig. 6 illustrates a modified formof pile shoe made similarly from four pro-formed plates.

In the figures, a, a a and a denote the tour identical plates of which the shoe is composed. Each plate is formed at one end into two progressively smaller sections, tapering to a point or vertex, these smaller sections being denoted by b 0, 17?, c etc., respectively. The bends forming said sections are designated by at, 31', i11 111?; etc., respectively. 01', cf, d e etc., indicate certain corresponding edges of the plates, respectively. 12 indicates the common vertex of the said sections, which common vertex constitute the tip of the completed shoe. p

For my purpose I have found it convenient to use four identical rectangular steel plates for making my pile shoe. Each plate is pre-formed by being bent at right angles along two converging lines, as shown in Fig. 5. In Fig. 5 the plate a has been bent at right angles along the lines a." and y forming the triangular section b, perpendicular to the planeof the plate, and'the smaller triangular section 0, perpendicular to the section b. 7

Each of the other three plates a a and a is pre-formed in exactly the same manner as plate a, and the sections b, b etc., and the sections 0", c etc, of the four plates a, a etc. are similar, respectively. When the shoe is to be set up, the four plates are put together as shown in Figs. 1 and 4, with the portions "17 c of plate 0: arranged on the outside or plate a, the portions b 0 of plate a placed on the outside-f a and so on. The overlying sections are-then arc-welded along their edges d, e, d e etc., to the underlying plates, and the shoe is then ready for use. 'I havefound it desirable, however,- to feinforcethe tip of the shoe still further by welding a metal slug into the tip of the shoe on the inside, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. "This not only provides solid reinforcement of the tip but permits a better fit of the shoe to the pile end since piles are not sharpened to an actual point and the filled-in shoe tip reduces the tendency of thepile to spread the shoe. H r i As a convenience for holding the shoe on th bottom of the pile; each plated; 6& etc, is made with a hole f, F, etc. in the upper corner. When the bottom of thelpile' has been cut roughly to a four-sided point, by an axeor other suitable tool thesho'e is Dlacedonthe pile o'ver the-point ed end and held in position :by spikes are driven thru the holes i, F, etc., into the pile.

Thus, while the plates a, a etc. may be of only moderate thickness, the overlapping of the plates provides double and triple thicknesses at the places where greatest strength is needed.

The making of my pile shoe from plates of only moderate thickness, on the other hand, makes it possible to produce these shoes at a comparatively moderate cost.

In pile shoes of this shape, which are of the same thickness thruout, the tension at the edges is liable to cause the shoe to split along such edges unless the shoe is of considerable thickness. This is a fault frequently found with pile shoes. This is particularly true if, as is common with certain types of shoes, the shoe is welded along such edges. As is-apparent in my shoe, as above described, there is no welding on these edges and the triple thickness over the bottom of each of such edges and double thickness at the other points of greatest stress make it practically impossible for my pile shoe to split along the edges.

While I have shown, as a preferred means of carrying out my invention, a pile shoe of four sides, that is, constructed of four plates, it is obvious that my pile shoe could be in the form of an inverted triangular pyramid made of three plates instead of four. In such case the different sections of each plate instead of being bent at right angles would be bent to angles of 60 degrees. In other respects the construction would be the same. Similarly, my pile shoe might have more than four sides, and be composed of more than four plates. Furthermore, it might be conical in shape by curving the sections of the plates. For practical purposes, however, a four-sided shoe seems preferable, since it is easier and quicker to cut the bottom of the pile into a four-sided point than into any other symmetrical shape.

In Fig. 6, I show a modified form of pile shoe made without a tip and in the shape of a truncated pyramid. Pile shoes without tips are sometimes employed and may readily be made from separate pre-formed plates in a similar manner to that already described. The pile shoe of Fig. 6 is composed of four separate, identical, preformed plates k, 70 k and R The plates as shown were originally square or rectangular, but each plate has been bent so that two identical triangular side pieces are formed at right angles to the main section of the plate. These triangular side pieces are designated by 'm'-o, 121 -0 m -o and m -o respectively. The plates are then arranged as indicated, with one side piece of each plate lying over the outside surface of the next consecutive plate, and the seams between the plates are sealed by welding. Of course this modified pile shoe similarly could be made with any number of sides, but for all practical purposes the four-sided truncated pyramid would probably be selected.

Without limiting the principles of this invention to a pile shoe of any particular shape or size,

I claim: r

1. A metal pile-shoe comprising a plurality of metal plates pre-formed into a spiral-like shape, the corresponding pre-formed sections of said plates being similar respectively, the sections of each plate tapering to a common point, 'said plates being partly seated one within the other so that the pre-formed portions ofeach plate overlap an adjacent plate respectively and said common points of said plates coincide and form the vertex of the pile-shoe, whereby the overlapping sections of said plates furnish increased thickness of material for the lower portion of the pile shoe, said plates being fastened together where they overlap.

2. A metal pile-shoe comprising a plurality of rectangular metal plates pre-formed at one end into a spiral-like shape, the pre-forrned portions of said plates constituting triangular sections similar respectively, the sections of each plate tapering to a common point, said plates being partly nested so that the said common points coincide, the upper portions spaced symmetrically and arranged to flare outwardly, whereby the overlapping sections of said plates furnish double thickness of material for the lower portion of the pile shoe, said plates being fastened together where they overlap.

3. A metal pile-shoe comprising a plurality of rectangular identical metal plates pre-formed at one end into a spiral-like shape, the corresponding pre-formed sections of said plates being identical respectively, the pre-formed portions of said plates constituting triangular sections, the sections of each plate tapering to a common point, said plates being partly seated one within the other so that the pre-formed portions of each plate overlap an adjacent plate respectively and said common points of said plates coincide and form the vertex of the pile shoe, whereby the pre-formed triangular sections of said plates.

constitute a series of converging reinforcements of double and triple thickness on the outside of the shoe end, the pre-fcrmed sections of said plates being welded to the outside of the adjacent plates which they overlap.

4. A metal pile-shoe comprising a plurality of identical metal plates pre-iormed into a spirallike shape, the corresponding pre-formed sections of said plates being identical respectively, the sections of each plate tapering to a common point, said plates being partly nested so that the said common points coincide, the upper portions spaced symmetrically and arranged to flare outwardly, whereby the overlapping sections of said plates furnish increased thickness of material for the lower portion of the pile shoe, the pre-formed sections of said plates being welded to the outside of the adjacent plates which they overlap.

5. A metal pile shoe composed of a plurality of similar plates, each of said plates similarly preformed so as to have a tapering middle section and adjoining sections overhanging the inner face of said middle section, said plates partly nested one within the other with the middle section of each plate exposed on the outer surface of the pile shoe and withthe adjoining sections of 'each plate secured to the middle sections of the adjacent plates.

6. A metal pile shoe composed of a plurality of similar rectangular 'plates, each of said plates similarly pre-formed so as to have a middle section in the shape of an isosceles trapezoid and adjoining sections overhanging the inner face of said middle section, said plates partly nested one within the other with the middle section of each plate exposed on the outer surface of the pile shoe and with the adjoining sections of each plate secured to the middle sections of the adjacent plates.

WILLIAM C. SCI-IMITT. 

